Under an Oak Tree
by SquirrelandNight123
Summary: Tragedy, heartbreak, and love. Thats all you need to know. And that this story almost hits the crappy side. Eh.. Read it anyway. You might like it! ArnoldXHelga (I will probably do a re-write and I could continue this if anyone wants me to.) Rated for language.


**A/N: Hey guys and gals! Thought I'd do a little short oneshot. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold!**

There I sat, my arms wrapped around my knees, and my head buried in my lap. I was crying. **Hard.** Tears silently trickled down my face as I sat beneath the giant oak tree. A cool breeze blew through the air, ruffling my unruly blonde hair and my worn clothes.

The tree's branches and leaves swayed from the wind, and the clouds that rolled in the dark, grey sky held an ominous look. It was going to rain.

_'__Great,'_ I thought, '_Just great. My day can't get any worse, can it?'_

And then it began to pour. My clothes almost instantly became drenched and stuck to my skin. Chills ran up my spine as I started to cry harder. My day had **sucked**.

You see, the reason for me being like this on that particular day, and that day being as crappy as I think it could have possibly been, is because my parents had died in a car crash earlier that morning.

I never really liked my parents that much, but deep down I did care for them, even if I never showed it. My dad was a blowhard who had a deep passion for his work and practically ignored my existence all together, and my mom was a full out alcoholic that never did anything for me.

But that fateful day that I'm telling you about now, put a hole in my heart bigger than I ever thought anything could. I had always imagined life without my parents, but I never thought in my wildest dreams that it would hurt me this bad, let alone that it would actually happen. I didn't think anything or anyone could make me feel the slightest bit better. But boy was I wrong.

Now back to my tragic day and my unattractive grieving in the park, under a tree.

The tears that rolled down my cheeks were no longer silent, and my sobs were ringing in my ears. My vision was blurred and my eyes stung. My lungs felt as if they were shrinking in my chest as I tried to regain my breath and stop my crappy crying. I probably looked like a big baby then, but anyone in my situation probably would, especially if they were crying as hard as I was.

I began to shiver from the rain and goosebumps ran up my arms and legs, but I didn't give a flying crap about it. All I wanted was to be alone, or thats what I kept on telling myself.

I buried my head deeper into my arms and closed my eyes as hard as I could. My loud sobs began to quiet, when I suddenly felt the rain that had been pouring down on my shoulders cease. I looked up expecting to see the clouds drifting away, but I only found that staring down at me was the one and only, Arnold Shortman, holding an umbrella over my head.

My heart flipped in my chest and a swarm of butterflies invaded my stomach. He's had that effect on me since I was three, and I'm seventeen now. There's always been something about his football shaped head and his gumdrop eyes thats always made me feel all mushy inside.

"W-what d-d-do you w-want, Football H-Head?" I only managed to say this between my half-stifled sobs.

Arnold and I had become friends, best friends even, over the years, and I became a little less of a bully, but my sarcastic remarks and threats from my so cleverly named fists, 'Ol' Betsie and The Five Avengers', remained.

He smiled sadly at me,"Helga, you're out crying underneath a tree in the rain. Will you please tell me what's wrong? I haven't seen you all day!'' He gracefully sat down on the grass beside me, still holding the umbrella above my head.

I looked at him sadly, only hoping he'd see the melancholy staining my eyes. My face paled as I spoke my answer,"A-Arnold, m-my paren-n-ts died in a car w-wreck this m-morning."

"Oh my God, Helga! Why didn't you tell me?" He gaped at me, dropped his umbrella, and quickly wrapped his arms around my shoulders, "You know you can come to me whenever you need me. I'll always be here for you."

And with that, I broke down in tears,** again**, and started crying on his shoulder. It felt like I sat there crying for hours, _days_ even. How I managed to cry this much in one day is still a mystery to me.

After a while my crying finally ceased and I quietly lay on his chest. He slowly and soothingly rubbed my back as I snaked my arms around his waist and hugged him tighter.

"T-Thank you, A-Arnold…," heat spread across my face all the way to the tips of my ears as I felt Arnold's breath travel down my neck. Goose bumps quickly returned to my arms and legs, and I shivered in Arnold's grasp.

I know what you're thinking.

'_Your parents just died! Why the _**_hell_**_ are you thinking about your crush at a moment like this?'_

There is a simple explanation. That I'm not going to give, of course. Hehehe…. Just know that if your ever stuck in a situation where the secret love of your life is hugging you out in a storm, and your face is mere **inches** from theirs, and you get an image of yourself kissing them in the rain, you'd be blushing like frick, too.

"What are you thanking me for? I only want to be sure that you're ok," his smooth voice made my heart flip, and I mentally slapped myself for thinking about him at that moment.

I should have been thinking about my parents, but I wasn't mentally up to it. I didn't think I could handle thinking about them at that moment. I would have to think about them later. I could grieve about them later. All I wanted at that moment was to focus on something else.

My options-

Arnold

* Kissing Arnold

* Hugging Arnold

Daydreaming about Arnold

Being **near **to Arnold

Arnold

Sad, isn't it?

"And thats **_exactly_** what I'm thanking you for. You're always being so nice to me, and your always caring about me. I really don't deserve it. **Especially** not from you…." He must have heard my last sentence, even though I _thought_ I whispered it to where he couldn't hear it, because after I had spoken he gently cupped my cheek and lifted my head to where I was looking him dead in the eye. He stared at me with a stern glare, but his eyes still healed there caring look.

"Helga, why in the **_hell_** would you not deserve kindness and sympathy? Especially not from _me_?" I must have really hit a nerve of curiosity or anger or **_something_**there, because Arnold P. Shortman **never **uses profanity. **Ever.** I couldn't tell if he was mad or not, but I was soon to find out.

"I just **DON'T**! I had always been such a jerk to you, and how you ever became my friend is like the **world**'s biggest mystery to me," as I spoke I stared at his eyes, trying to read his face. I saw no anger. I saw no hurt. All I saw was amusement and something else I couldn't figure out.

His frown turned into a lopsided smirk as he spoke quietly,"Well, I honestly don't care that you were ever mean to me. I know that you only did it to cover up something else. Lets see," He stroked his imaginary beard with his free hand," What was that thing you were always covering up with you're bullying? Ah, yes! Your love. For **me**."

I gulped as he continued," But the thing is- you never knew how **_I_**felt or why Ive always tried to be kind and compassionate towards you."

I tilted my head in confusion as his smile grew bigger. And before I knew it, his lips were on mine and the kiss was gone as soon as it came. My eyes were the size of dinner plates as I sputtered," B-but… Wha? W-What the heck w-was **t-that **for?"

"And you think **I'm **dense. I love you ,Helga. And I always want to be there for you, through the good times and bad. I always want to be by your side, facing off the big dangers and the little inconveniences that come our way."

I looked down at my arm and pinched myself as hard as I possibly could without making myself bleed. Not. A. Dream.

"I love you to Arnold. Thank you for being here for me."

"No problem Helga. Lets get you to somewhere where you can dry off," he slowly pulled me up to my feet, pecked me on the cheek, and we began to walk hand in hand to his house.

That day most defiantly sucked lemons, but I know that Arnold will always be there for me. Through my rise and fall, through the big dangers and the small inconveniences, through sickness and health, through death and life, I will always love him.

**A/N: What the heck have I done?! This is probably a total FAIL. I don't care. Just felt like writing this. OH WELL! *place virtual shoulder shrug here***

**Bye for now!**

**- SquirrelandNight123 (Squirrelstorm123)**


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